Before learning to learn anything I thought that first I need to evaluate my capabilities. But if there a way to measure my brain functioning and to estimate my potential?
To start with something, I decided to first figure out how my brain actually functions. So last week I’ve read a book called The Brain That Changes Itself by Norman Doidge. Doidge is an experienced psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who explains the phenomenon of neuroplasticity, the ability of brain to change its own structure and function in response to mental experience.
That might sound obvious, but it turns out our brains never stop learning. They are able to restructure themselves in response to input even from the simplest tools, such as a blind man’s cane. Even if we stop learning or doing something, parts of the brain responsible for the corresponding knowledge or skills get filled with information about other skills and knowledge that we continue using.
However, Doidge says in his book that the continuous changes in our brain take place only when we have endless interest in what we’re doing. But at the same time, the more you do something, the more interesting it gets for you. Thus, don’t expect extraordinary results in anything what you do if you don’t have proper motivation for that.
By the way, the reason for this phenomena is chemically simple: dopamine (the happiness hormone) helps to create and strengthen new neuron connections. This is how success inspires us to achieve more.
So it is completely destructive to believe that you’re getting older, your brains are no longer the same as before, you’re not capable of solving the tasks you found easy before and so on. (This is what I was afraid of when trying to understand why I was unwilling to write anymore).
So what Norman Doidge advises for keeping a brain in a good shape?
- Learning anything new helps creating new neurons and neuron connections among old neurons
- The more education we have, the more socially and physically active we are, and the more we participate in mentally stimulating activities, the less likely we are to get Alzheimer’s disease or dementia
- Physical activity is necessary at least because it supplies oxygen to brain
- Nothing speeds brain atrophy more than being immobilized in the same environment; the monotony undermines our dopamine and attentional systems crucial to maintaining brain plasticity
- Avoid interacting with electronic media — it is proved that there is a connection between the electronic media and the rise of attention deficit traits
- Practice meditation: people who meditate have a thicker insula, a part of the cortex activated by paying close attention
And a few interesting highlights from the book:
- To become an extraordinary pro in anything one needs not less than 10 years.
- Learning poems by heart improves aural memory
- Handwriting probably strengthens motor capacities and thus adds speed and fluency to reading and speaking
- Having a sharp mind helps the brain to compensate severe injuries
After reading this book I was surprised to feel myself inspired to look for some tools that might help improve my brain abilities. And you know what, I found one — it’s the Lumosity.com service. I’ll explain the results of using it in my next post.
P.S.: In his book Norman Doidge mentions Betty Edwards (and her book Drawing on the right side of the brain, 1979), where she explains how to wake up the creative part of a personality. In one of the examples she forced students to draw the copy of Picasso’s picture hanging upside down. This way the students were unable to comprehend the sense of the image and were focused on the technique and line drawing. Now I quite curious, in what similar ways can other creative tasks be done?